Microsoft Word - A Guide to Writing your PhD Proposal.docx

Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

WritingaPhDresearchproposal:A6‐stepgeneral guideforprospectivePhD

researchers



Introduction



Thisshortguideisaimedathelpingyoutowriteagoodresearchproposal.Itisintendedtohelpyou

tothinkaboutyourproposedPhDresearchinaclear,structuredandmeaningfulway.



Itshouldbestressedthatthefollowingisonlyageneralguideanditdoes

notguaranteeacceptance

ontoaPhDprogramme.AcceptingPhDstudentsontoaresearchprogrammedependsonmany

factors,includingthenatureofyourproposedresearch,thequalityofyourideas,yourabilityto

committoanintensiveperiodofresearchstudy,theeffectivenessofyourresearchproposalin

communicatingyour

ideas,the“match”betweentheproposedresearchandthepotentialsupervisor

andthecapacityoftheresearchdepartment.



Thekeymessageinthisguideisthatitisyourresearchproposalandthequalityofitwillbea

considerablefactorusedintheuniversity’s decisiontoacceptyouontoa

PhDprogramme.



Inshort,thebetteryourproposal,thebetteryourchancesofbeingaccepted.



Note:

Ifyouareapplyingforaspecificpre‐definedresearchprojectinscience,technology,

engineering,mathematicsormedicineyoumaynotneedtosubmitaproposal.

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Whyagoodresearchproposalisessentialtotheapplicationprocess

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Asoutlinedabove,yourresearchproposalisanintegralpartofthePhDapplicationprocess,soitis

certainlyworthinvestingtimeandenergyintoit.Itneedstooutlinethenatureofyourproposed

PhDstudyandgive

someindicationofhowyouwillconductyourresearch.



Rememberthataresearchproposalisaboutwhatyouwanttostudy;itimmediatelyreflectsyour

initialunderstandingof,andcommitmentto,PhDstudy.Aresear chproposalcanandshouldmakea

positiveandpowerfulfirstimpressionaboutyourpotentialtobecome

agoodresearcher.

Importantly,themainpurposeistoenabletheuniversitytoassesswhetheryouareagood‘match’

foroursupervisorsandourareasofresearchexpertise.



Therefore,inagoodresearchproposalyouwillneedtodemonstratetwomainthings:



1. thatyouarecapableofindependent

criticalthinkingandanalysis



2. thatyouarecapableofcommunicatingyourideasclearly

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ApplyingforaPhDislikeapplyingforajob,youarenotapplyingforataughtprogramme.

WhenyoustartaPhDyouwillbecomeavaluedresearcherinanacademicdepartment.Through

yourresearch

proposalyourcolleagueswanttoknowwhethertheycanworkwithyou,andwhether

yourideasarefocussed,interestingandrealistic.Tryandimpressthem!

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Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

SinceyouaregoingtobeinvestingaminimumofthreeyearsofyourlifeworkinghardonyourPhD,

afewdaysspentresearchingandwritingathoroughresearchproposalisasmallinitialinve stmentto

make.Inshort,aresearchproposalisanessentialfirststepinyourPhD

journey.Makesureyougive

ityourfullestconsiderationandeffort.



Youarenotexpectedtobetheexpert



Remember,youdonotneedtohaveaPhDtowritearesearchproposal!Yourproposalshouldbe

indicativeanditshouldoutlineyourareasofinterestandyourgeneralinsight

intotheresearch

topic.Youarenotexpectedtobeanexpertandtobefamiliarwithallthespecificdetailsofyour

subject.However,youareexpectedtohaveagoodlevelofknowledgeaboutthesubjectandwhere

youmightmakeavaluablecontributiontoresearch.

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6steps

toasuccessfulresearchproposal

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Somepeopleseemtothinkaresearchproposalistoocomplicatedandaninconvenientpartofthe

applicationprocess.Agoodresearchproposalshouldnotbecomplicated.However,itcanbe

challengingtowriteanditisimportanttogetright.APhDischallenging,

soitisgoodtraining

workingonyourresearchproposal.

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Althoughthereisnoexactprescribedformatforageneralresearchproposal(acrossallsubjects),all

ofthefollowingaredeemedimportanttoconsider.Youneedtocheckyourownsubject’sparticular

conventionsandexpectations(bylookingontheappropriateExeter

collegewebsite).Insummary

though,aresearchproposalshouldgenerallyincludesixmainsections,asdetailedbelow:

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1) aclearworkingtitleforyourresearchproject



o whatwillyoucallyourproject?

o whatkeywordswoulddescribeyourproposal?



2) aclearstatementaboutwhatyouwant

toworkonandwhyitisimportant, interesting,

relevantandrealistic



o whatareyourmainresearchobjectives?–thesecouldbearticulatedashypotheses,

propositions,researchquestions,orproblemstosolve

o whatdifferencedoyouthinkyourresearchwillmake?

o whydoesthisresearchexciteyou?



o whatresearch‘gaps’willyoubefillingbyundertakingyourproject?

o howmightyourresearch‘addvalue’tothesubject? 

o isyourresearchachievableinthetimeallocated?(e.g.3yearsfull‐time)

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3) somebackgroundknowledgeandcontextoftheareainwhichyouwishto

work,including

keyliterature,keypeople,keyresearchfindings



o howdoesyourworklinktotheworkofothersinthesameorrelatedfields?

o wouldyourworksupportorcontesttheworkofothers?

o howdoesyourworkrelatetotheexpertisewithinthedepartmentyou

areapplying

to?

Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps



4) someconsiderationofthemethods/approachyoumightuse 



o howwillyouconductyourresearch?

o willyouuseexistingtheories,newmethods/approachesordevelopnewmethods/

approaches?

o howmightyoudesignyourprojecttogetthebestresults/findings?



5) someindicationofthestrategyandtimetable

foryourresearchprojectandanyresearch

challengesyoumayface



o whatwouldbethemainstagesofyourproject?

o whatwouldyoubeexpectingtodoineachyearofyourPhD?

o whatchallengesmightyouencounterandhowmightyouovercomethese?



6) a

listofthekeyreferenceswhichsupportyourresearchproposal



o referencesshouldbelistedintheappropriateconventionforyoursubjectarea(e.g.

Harvard).Suchreferencesshouldbeusedthroughoutyourresearchproposalto

demonstratethatyouhavereadandunderstoodtheworkofothers.

o otherrelevantmaterial

thatyouareawareof,butnotactuallyusedinwritingyour

proposal,canalsobeaddedasabibliography

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Alloftheabovesixsectionsareimportant,butsection2isparticularlyimportantbecauseinany

researchproject,establishingyourmainpurposerepresentsthewholebasisforcompletingthe

research

programme.Therefore,thevalueofyourproposedresearchisasses s edinrelationtoyour

researchaimsandobjectives.



Theappropriatelengthofaresearchproposal



Agoodresearchproposalisaslongasittakes,butaguidewouldbe1000‐2000words.Remember

thatitismeanttobe

anaccurateoverview,notathesis,soyouneedtoprovideenoughdetailforthe

readertounderstandit.Itshouldnotbetoolong,ortooshort.Aparagraphwouldnotbeenough,

and5000wordslikelytoomuch.



Theperfectresearchproposal



Inadditiontotheabove,an

excellentresearchproposalalsoneedsto:



o followanyuniversityandcollege/departmentalguidanceonwebsites.Conventionscan,

anddo,differacrosssubjectsandthereforeacrosstheUniversityofExeter.Therefore,you

mustcheckthecollege/departmentwebsiteforspec ific(subject)adviceandguidance.



o berefinedandeditedanumber

oftimesbeforeitissubmitted.Youmustdemonstratethat

youhavegivenyourproposalalotofindividualattentionandcare.Makesureitiswell

written,withoutanyerrors.



Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

o leavethereaderwithaclearsenseofthepurposeanddirectionofyourresearchproject.

Thereadershouldnothavetoreadittwicetounderstandit.



o leavethereaderinterested,excitedandwantingtofindoutmoreaboutyourideas,and

aboutyou!



Followthe

‘3Cs’rule:



Whenyouhavewrittenyourresearchproposal,askafriendtoreaditcriticallyandprovideyouwith

feedback.Also,askyourselfwhetheritfollowsthe‘3Cs’rule:



LEAR:iswhatyouhavewrittenintelligibleandclearlyarticulated?Does it makesense,orisitvague

andconfusing?



ONCISE:haveyouwrittenyourproposalinasuccinctandfocussedway?



OHERENT:doesyourproposallinktogetherwellsothatittellsthereaderashortstoryaboutwhat

youwanttodo,whyyouwanttodoitandhowyouwilldoit?



Ifyoucananswerallofthese‘3C’questionswithconfidence,youhaveprobablyputtogether

agood

proposal.



Lastthoughts…



Rememberthatyourresearchproposalshouldleaveapositivefirstimpressionuponthereader

aboutyour‘fitness’tostudyaPhD.Itisyourproject,soitisimportanttodemonstrateleadershipin

thisfirststageoftheapplicationprocess.Anidealproposalshouldleave

thereaderfeelinginno

doubtthatyouhavedonesomepreliminaryresearchaboutyoursubjectandthatyouare

knowledgeableandreadytotacklethechallengesofthePhD.



Giveyourproposalyourutmostattentionandtime,butalsoberealistic‐youarenot

expectedto

knoweverythingatthisstage.Yourproposalcanalsobeflexible.Itisnotacontract.Alwaysask

someoneelsetoreadyourproposalbeforeyousubmitit,andtoofferyousomecriticalbut

supportivefeedback.



Finally,rememberthataresearchproposalinstantlyreflectsyourpotentialcompetence

to

undertakeaPhDeffectively.Aproposalisultimatelyaboutyourabilitytodemonstratethatyouare

capableofPhDstudy,soyoushouldputtimeandeffortintoit.